Bread series, number 3 by the Catalan artist Esther Boix (1927-2014). Exhibited in the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC).
Esther Boix started creating art while she was living through Franco's fascist dictatorship of Spain (1939-1975/1978). In the 1950s, she was part of the avantguardist movements, and soon moved to a more political art. In the 1960s and 1970s, her work reflected her views against the dictatorship, often including allegories to the struggles of women and the working class. (A difficult and brave thing to do, considering the harsh censorship of the dictatorship!). In 1964, she founded the art group Estampa Popular, focused on engraving with cheap materials with political meanings for the working class. After the 1970s, her work also reflected involvement with environmentalism and the hope of the dictatorship's end.
In her bread series, the red arms represent the upper class and the bread represents the working class.
Throughout her artistic career, she worked with oil and acrylic paint, pencil on paper, Chinese ink, gouache, collage, tapestry, pottery, various engraving techniques, and linoleum. She also founded an art school where she taught expression techniques.
